I am asking for your assistance as I would like to know if any one else has had problems with this food.

On the advice of Pet Valu, I changed my 10 year old male cat's food from Science Diet to their "holistic, much healthier Performatrin Ultra". They informed me that they were slowly phasing out Science Diet and implied that it was sub standard food. After not quite 4 months of this, my guy is currently on a feeding tube with liver disease. He lost 10 lbs in the course of just shy of 4 months which my vet attributes to this food.

A lady I work with had her 9 year old male cat put down after living with endless urinary tract infections, crystals (they even had to operate to change him from a male to female) and finally liver and kidney failure after living a life with this food.

I am asking if anyone has had bad experiences with this food to please respond.

Thanks so much!

happycats

June 5th, 2006, 12:32 PM

I am so sorry for your cat, and hope he gets through this.

As for Performatrin, I used to feed the dry to my cats, as I was told by Pet Value staff, that it was the best, I started noticing that my cats vomitted often, and one of my cats did die of liver failure (December 7, 2001), but I never linked it to the food !

I changed food, because of the vomitting, and because the colour of the food changed (to a more yellow colour) and when I looked at the ingredients I saw the first one listed was, Corn .
I am sure that when I started feeding this food years ago, that this was not the case.

I now feed Costco's brand (Kirkland) and have had no problems since.

I wish you and your sweet guy the best of luck

Prin

June 5th, 2006, 02:04 PM

I don't understand- if you look at performatrin ultra's website, there's no corn in the food... I know a few people here have fed it to their dogs without any trouble..
http://www.performatrinultra.com/cat/cdi_chicken.htm

The bad ingredients in that chicken one are brewer's yeast (by-product) and Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (not for human consumption), but I don't see corn.

happycats

June 5th, 2006, 02:15 PM

I don't understand- if you look at performatrin ultra's website, there's no corn in the food... I know a few people here have fed it to their dogs without any trouble..
http://www.performatrinultra.com/cat/cdi_chicken.htm

The bad ingredients in that chicken one are brewer's yeast (by-product) and Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (not for human consumption), but I don't see corn.

I stopped feeding my cats performatrin because the first ingredient on the catfood bag was corn (may have been corn meal) but it definately said corn! This came off of a bag of seniors performatrin for cats.

Like I stated in my previous post, that I am sure when I started feeding them performatrin it wasn't like this.I switched from science diet to performatrin when I aquired 6 cats and science diet was so expensive, and the staff at Pet Value told me performatrin was better then Science Diet and cheaper.

Prin

June 5th, 2006, 02:16 PM

So their website is wrong then? (I'd just like to know...:))

happycats

June 5th, 2006, 02:21 PM

So their website is wrong then? (I'd just like to know...:))

Could be! But I fed the seniors performatrin, maybe the Ultra is different??
If you can find the ingredients for performatrin seniors, we may see a diference in ingredients.

Lucky Rescue

June 5th, 2006, 02:25 PM

A lady I work with had her 9 year old male cat put down after living with endless urinary tract infections, crystals (they even had to operate to change him from a male to female) and finally liver and kidney failure after living a life with this food.

The brand of food is not the problem. Feeding dry food only to neutered males is the problem, often resulting in crystals and blockages.

Canned food should be the majority of the diet for neutered male cats. Any canned food is better than any dry on the market.

I'm very sorry about your own cat.:(

Skryker

June 5th, 2006, 02:42 PM

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat.

All I can relate is my own experience-I have a 10 year old spayed female cat who has been on the Ultra for about 6 months now with no problems. In fact, her coat is beautiful, her muscle tone is better than it has been in years and she is experiencing a second kittenhood of playfulness.

My concerns with this food are the 2 that Prin mentioned, so I keep a close eye on her, but so far, so good. My dogs are eating the Ultra dog food and are also doing quite well.

KStewart

June 5th, 2006, 03:03 PM

Hi,

I was not expecting this for my pet and I do appreciate your kind words and all the information you've provided me with.

Thank you!

Skryker

June 5th, 2006, 03:14 PM

:grouphug: Of course you weren't expecting this for your cat! You were doing what you thought was best. It seems that perhaps your cat was sensitive to something in the food, unfortunately. I hope things get better soon.

Copper'sMom

June 6th, 2006, 12:32 AM

Could be! But I fed the seniors performatrin, maybe the Ultra is different??

Yes there is a difference! Performatrin ULTRA - is the holistic version. Then there's the regular Performatrin ( or senior, Lite etc). I looked at the regular Performatrin before and the holistic version was my choice because there was no corn.

I'm not sure about the cat food, but I was feeding Performatrin Ultra to my dogs. No problems to report here. I'm currently switching them to raw just because I think they may be able to do better.

I hope your kitty gets better soon!

Prin

June 6th, 2006, 12:56 AM

Yes there is a difference! Performatrin ULTRA - is the holistic version. Then there's the regular Performatrin ( or senior, Lite etc). I looked at the regular Performatrin before and the holistic version was my choice because there was no corn. Ahhh!! Thanks Copper for that. :) (but even the ultra, which is the one I was looking at, has brewer's yeast and the menadione...)

Copper'sMom

June 6th, 2006, 01:28 AM

Ahhh!! Thanks Copper for that. :) (but even the ultra, which is the one I was looking at, has brewer's yeast and the menadione...)

Ummm, I'm not food savy so I don't know about those ingredients.:o I've read some about the menadione, but the brewer's yeast?:confused: (If this is off topic, fill me in elsewhere!):sorry:

Prin

June 6th, 2006, 01:42 AM

It's just another by-product of the alcohol industry (like brewer's rice). ;)

OntarioGreys

June 6th, 2006, 01:00 PM

Was your friend male cat being fed dry only?? Cats should have some canned food daily to aid in the prevention of stones, some animals are genetically disposed to being stone formers the performatirin Ultra contains cranberries which is used to help the cats uninary ph in the neutral zone to aid in preventing urinary stones. The food also contains methionine which is an acidier which will help prevent struvite stones from forming the common type in cats and dogs but if this cats had the very rare type of stone calcium oxalate which forms in animals and people who have highly acidic urine then methionine would be a bad thing.

Now for the liver issue

There is no ingredients in the performanance ultra that would cause this kind of major health problem in a healthy cat. What I would highly suspect is contamination of the kibble by molds or bacteria. It happens every so often with dog food and a bad batch is shipped and suddenly several will be sick or dying, the last big incident occured in Diamond foods the corn they used had very high levels of alfatoxin( a mold that grows on corn) several dog in the eastern states started dying of liver failure, some people had multiple dogs that all became ill, because more virus due not impact the liver the state university who was treat several dog from multiple househouse started asking questions looking for a common link, which lead them to the dog food and test verified it.

If you have some of the food left, talk to the vet about having it tested for fungal toxins, if there is contamination make sure the company who makes is contacted, so they can check to batches and don't throw out the bag because this has the lot and batch number as this become evidence incase of medical claims in the event of a recall.

Toxic molds can develop in pet foods in your home as well, light will destroy natural preservatives in food very quickly so after opening it is important to make sure the bag is folded closed after each use, it is preferable only have enough food on hand for a couple of weeks, if a bag has been open greater than 4 weeks, it should be thrown out. You should not dump food out of the bag into plastic storage container, put bag and all into the container to prevent bacteria dangers. Food should be keep in a cool dry place, most kitchens have too much humidity to store food safely and can cause mold growth in foods. This time of year with the hot and humid weather pet foods can spoil super quickly if you don't have cental air to reduce heat and get rid of the excess humidity. Depending on the type of mold and quanity some pets may go off the food and do some vomiting in other types it can destroy the livers and be fatal

KStewart

June 12th, 2006, 12:42 PM

Just curious as to where this "moved" to?

Thanks.

mafiaprincess

June 12th, 2006, 12:59 PM

The food forums.. Look at the top of the thread. It tells you where you are.

Performatrin Ultra is not the same as Performatrin senior or any other performatrin for that matter. Both the cat and dog Ultra made it into the whole dog journal.

Honestly there is no comparison between Perform ultra and Science diet. Read a bag of SD and try and find some real meat.
I think it really is sad what happened to you cat and we all know that this was more of a family memeber then a cat :-( So you are probably really questioning anything you did different.

As a breeder I have my puppy owners sign in my contract that they will not feed SD. We do feed mostly raw to both cats and dogs. We do have kibble on the side also.
I think you did the best you could for your 4 legged friend .

littlesister

July 4th, 2006, 07:40 PM

Similarly, several months ago, back when I was buying Science Diet at Pet Valu, one worker there told me to switch to something more "holistic", "natural," probably the Performatrin. I actually thought it was rather rude of the cashier to tell me what to buy. I wondered, why is she doing this? What's the incentive, and I told her that I thought it was none of her business. I asked her what her training for this was, and explained to her that my vet, whom I trust a lot, recommended science diet. She had no formal education in pet nutrition, and was really just a salesperson. I would never let a cashier tell me what to do.

Prin

July 5th, 2006, 12:03 AM

Vets have very little training in nutrition too... I wouldn't feed Science Diet. It's loaded with corn and fillers that just don't benefit the dog but make up the bulk of the food. No thanks.

What do you think is your vet's incentive for recommending Science Diet? Does he sell other Hill's products in his office?

littlesister

July 5th, 2006, 01:53 PM

Ya, actually Prin, he does sell some Hills stuff at his vet shop, but perhaps partly because they carry specific formulas for specific medical problems. He recommended a number of other foods as well, but I settled for Hills at the time, as it seemed a more modest price range.
Now I'm using Holistic Blend.
However, I remain skeptical of things called "natural" and "holistic." It's just my thing. Arsenic is natural.
Anyhow, the point being, yes, we all have a hidden agenda to some extent. I trust my vet who has 7 geriatric dogs of his own and 20 years of experience more than an 18 yr old cashier without any credentials who gives me unsolicited advice. Had I asked for advice, I would have been grateful for it, but really, I just stopped to pick up a bag of food in a big rush and was told to switch to Performatrin by a cashier I'd never met before. ???
I've been lucky with animals so far, they've lived the ripest of old ages even on the cheapest of grocery shelf foods. Probably due to having a lot of exercise and abundance of love.

littlesister

July 5th, 2006, 01:58 PM

Isn't Brewer's Yeast a good thing? - it is a great source of Vitamin B's.

mafiaprincess

July 5th, 2006, 04:20 PM

Out of about 4,000 hours in vet school. You might be lucky if your vet got 3-5 hours of nutrition a semester, and not every year. The ladies at global pet foods seem to have far better information than my vet ever will have when it comes to nutrition.

When you go to the dr, they refer you to a nutritionist, which there are in the vet world too. Your doctor doesn't start pushing diet advice on you. Think I'd be sketched out if the doctor's office was packed with random food products.

Brewer's yeast is in mainly crappy foods. It's a by product of the brewing industry. It has some vitamin B, but it's not worth nearly enough to be anywhere near the top of any ingredients list.

Marketplace did a dog food expose. Lot of vets were making 20% of their yearl income off of pushing dog food on clients. Gee, that's not sketchy.

If you actually look into the 'vet' formulas short of very short term use they aren't worth much. The majority are full of really crappy ingedients. Like gastro formulas made up of maily corn. Because that's gentle on a dog's stomach...

Prin

July 5th, 2006, 04:27 PM

Brewer's anything is a by-product of human processes. Why get one vitamin at a time from by-products rather than getting a bunch of healthy vitamins from real foods?

"Holistic food" is just a term loosely used to describe food with whole ingredients, not parts of ingredients or chemicals. Holistic foods usually have less/no filler, less/no by-products of human processes, less/no short cut ingredients, like beet pulp which hardens the stool chemically or corn which boosts the protein and carb content of a food even though a dog doesn't digest most of it.

Before you swear off holistic foods, you should take a look around the dog food forum here. There are a lot of links and ingredient lists around to look at and compare your food with.:)

littlesister

July 6th, 2006, 12:17 PM

"Mafia Princess," don't be so judgemental. I asked my vet for nutrition advice, it wasn't unsolicited as it can be in the stores, and he doesn't carry "random" food products, where are you getting these ideas? And could you possibly be any more sarcastic?

"Prin," check out these links to know more about Brewer's. Perhaps you have some links to info that explains it's a bad thing? I'd be interested.
I haven't yet "sworn off" holistic foods, but I believe it's wise to be skeptical of some of these things.

Do you people work in pet food stores?

Skryker

July 6th, 2006, 02:24 PM

:sorry: you've intrepreted things so negatively, littlesister. Please check out some of the other food related threads to see what everyone is about. Prin is our kibble "guru" and technodoll is our raw "guru".
As for Prin, she has HUGELY educated herself on dog food to make an informed decision on what to feed her dogs, and has a BSc to boot. Many of us on this forum have benefitted from her "legwork" and deciphering of scientific papers about additives and ingredients.

I, too, initially came to this forum with the idea that grocery store foods were "good enough"-until I really started to read up on the ingredients and to compare foods. Now, I feed my dogs and cat the Performatrin Ultra you sneer at and am more than pleased with the results.

I also believed that Brewer's yeast is good source of protein and B vitamins, and it might well be. But it's also the crap left over after yeast is used to make beer. It is literally the sludge that they scrape out of the vats.:yuck: I'd rather get my protein from chicken or lamb, thanks, and vitamins from actual vegetables, and now prefer to feed my animals the same way.

As another note, my husband was highly sceptical of the holistic food-he thought it was overpriced and pandering to people who spoil their pets. He was sold when we went from 12-14 cups a day of dog food down to 4 cups and the dog's fur improved, their muscle tone improved, the poop decreased and the poop smell (and the dog farts) decreased. And this from a guy who grew up feeding Alpo and table scraps to farm dogs!

Prin

July 6th, 2006, 04:39 PM

Littlesister, could you be more combative and rude? No, I don't work in a pet store. :rolleyes:

If you actually looked around the food forum, you'd find links like these that tell you what is in your food, but obviously you haven't looked at all, even at the stickies that are "stuck" so that people read them first, which all makes me a little hesitant to bother helping you.

Like Skryker said, brewer's yeast is a good source of vitamin B, but there are better ingredients out there to get vitamin B. Why give a by-product of processes for making beer and alcoholic beverages than a whole, healthy ingredient that has other benefits too? I mean, good foods like chicken, bananas, turkey, oatmeal, salmon and others have vitamin B also. Wouldn't you rather feed one of those than a by-product with nothing else in it?

And sure, it's not the worst ingredient out there (not as bad as feeding corn that they don't digest at all or chicken by-products that can include the 4-D animals- dead, diseased, dying, disabled, or even soybean meal that can cause bloat in large dogs) but it's not the best either. Same with brewer's rice. Why put a cheap, nutrition-stripped by-product in there when real, whole rice isn't that expensive to begin with?

Here's one important link:
http://www.prestigepetproducts.com/WhatIsIt.htm
The sticky I posted it in: http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=13203

Here's another sticky you should read:
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=27297

And if you google '"Brewer's yeast" and by-products' you'll get some links like these (among hundreds of others):
http://www.pets4life.com/index.php?p=research/articles/16
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=ingredient-facts&pxsl=//ingredient%5B@id='51'%5D

Skryker

July 6th, 2006, 06:34 PM

:o I just remembered that the cat Performatrin Ultra has Brewer's yeast in it.:o

I don't like that fact, but she is so fussy about food, I had decided it was an OK compromise. Thought I'd point that out myself before I got skewered for it. ;)

It's OK to be a hypocrite if you can admit it, right? :D

Basically, it's a trade off-this is the best I can afford (IMO) and can reliably get that she loves. Same for the dogs. *Shrug.*

Oh, and mafiaprincess, I did not mean to leave you out of my defense above. My husband was reading over my shoulder and rushing me.

Prin

July 6th, 2006, 08:14 PM

As long as you know what you are feeding, it's all good.:)

littlesister

July 6th, 2006, 09:41 PM

Brewer's Yeast is not a by-product! It's just a type of yeast. It's been used and sold in organic food stores for years, and as a supplement of more than "one type of B vitamin." They don't scrape it off the bottom of beer vats, that info is totally bogus.

Blathach

July 6th, 2006, 09:59 PM

Please keep comments civil. We are here to educate, not to post insults.

Skryker

July 6th, 2006, 10:27 PM

Allow me to rephrase: Brewer's yeast CAN come from the vats or from other sources; nutritional yeast, the stuff sold in Health Food Stores for human consumption is more specific in type and source. Not necessarily the same thing, at all. And I don't really trust pet food companies, which are far less regulated, to go for the more expensive option. ;)

So let's just say you and I disagree on the subject and let it go, OK? You've got your mind made up already; I don't see any point in continuing to try and discuss the subject.

Prin

July 6th, 2006, 11:13 PM

Allow me to rephrase: Brewer's yeast CAN come from the vats or from other sources; nutritional yeast, the stuff sold in Health Food Stores for human consumption is more specific in type and source. Not necessarily the same thing, at all. And I don't really trust pet food companies, which are far less regulated, to go for the more expensive option. ;)

So let's just say you and I disagree on the subject and let it go, OK? You've got your mind made up already; I don't see any point in continuing to try and discuss the subject.
Skryker, you said it all. :) Especially that last bit about letting it go. :highfive: I'm done, too.

1 meat source followed by 6 grains, it is comparable in ingredients to many of the low cost food yet comes with a premium food price tag

you are lucky if there is 15% meat is this food, technically it is better suited as a pig or cow food than a dog food, canines require meat as the the bulk of their meals to be at their optimum health. Many companies over the years have been taking more and more meat out of the food and substituting with grains to reduce their manufacturing costs, A can of Dr Ballards 40 years ago or a bag of Alpo is a totally food today, those old products then were better then many of the so called premium products today.

My mom's shih tzu has spent most of her life eating science diet she is now 12, 3 years ago her kidneys started failing , then 2 years ago she started having heart problems, her muscles started wasting around the same time, Years ago I tried to get her to switch food telling her the meat content was too low but the vet recommended it so she felt it must be better, and now she is dying a slow death as a result
Meat protien helps helps to keep the kidney functioning and flushing properly, the old theory that high protein is bad came from testing rats not dogs, 6 years ago new studies revealed the big oops, meat protein is also important for muscle development, new studies are showing that seniors need increased protein rather than less to maintain muscle mass, and for cellular repair.

It is not hard to see what has more meat and therefore what is better suited for a dogs nutrition

Spielspieler

April 29th, 2008, 08:56 PM

Hi everyone,
I've been trying to decide what to feed an very active 20 lb. 5 year old male and a 12 week old Shih Tzu. We lost our little guy 2 months ago (thank you Menu Foods) and I am very gun-shy about processed foods, but we don't have the time to make our own so I'm trying to settle on a good kibble. We started with Iams, then were told to try Performatrin Ultra (Salmon). My daughter's vet told her the Performatrin causes kidney stones in small dogs so she wants my advice.

I looked into Canidae (as it seems to be recommended here) and it seems to have less meat protein than the Ultra.

I'm trying to follow what is being discussed here, but I have to resort to some direct questions:

Is the Performatrin Ultra (Salmon) any good? Is Canidae better? (It's cheaper)

Thanks for any suggestions,

Jim

changes

August 1st, 2008, 11:57 AM

I am always curious when people talk about kidney and bladder problems why water is not brought up. Much of the concerns can be traced back to water. For all my pets I have changed over to distillied water because in my area the water is quite hard.
Food is definitely a contributor to concerns and foods that are high in fibre are going to draw water from the body. For cats I have read that a good way to get them to drink is to have multiple water sources and move them around.
The talk regarding corn in performatrin is confusing two different types of performatrin. The basic line has corn and the ultra does not.
Another ingredient I like in a cat food is cranberry which has the same benefits as for people which is that it prevents things adhering to the bladder and urinary tract walls. Still all in all I think the main concern should be the quality of water and amount of water.

phoozles

August 1st, 2008, 12:52 PM

Water is important, but if you are feeding your cats canned food exclusively, they get a lot of that water in the food itself, helping out a species that has a low thirst drive to begin with. They definitely drink a lot less water once they are on a canned food.

I agree, Performatrin Ultra (canned) is a decent food for cats - there are no grains, and the ingredients are more than adequate, in my opinion. :thumbs up

bubbles007

August 4th, 2008, 01:05 PM

Performatrim is Pet Valu's house brand, I don't think anyone else sells it. Its also what they give cats at the animal shelters around here. I used to feed it to my cat, until i got what must have been a bad batch because he wouldnt eat it. That was about 8 months ago, I know since then they have re-formulated it, to include more meat. Currently for dry I'm using Spa Blue, which seems like its working out ok, but I am thinking about trying Performatrim again, especially the ultra version.

Tabbercat

January 18th, 2009, 11:37 AM

HI, my post refers to Performatrin but first I'd like to say that I have a bit of an issue with Pet Valu itself...a few months ago my cats picked up fleas. I assumed they came in through my screen door; the older woman at my local PV told me "they can't jump that high, you bring them in on your clothes." Well, fleas fly so I stick with MY assumption of the screen door; who is to say that they didn't come in when the door was open.

I asked for the flea remedy that you apply directly to the cat via little tube & this woman told me "that type takes too long" and recommended Zodiac sprays, the one for the home & the one that is applied to the cat. The one for the home was fine, little to no smell but the one to be applied to the cats is the most rancid smelling, not only that it made my cats violently ill. I e-mailed Zodiac regarding this and of course heard nothing back.

I went back to PV and fortunately this particular woman was not there; I asked for the little tubes (also made by Zodiac) and was given them with no argument from the sales person. This stuff worked almost instantly; all fleas are gone. Had it not worked I would have pursued my local Vet office for a remedy.

I don't like that particular woman who talks to every customer (I have good ears) like they are idiots and know nothing about their pets or pet products. I also know, after having worked retail mgmt years ago that retail outlets are paid by suppliers to promote their products whether they believe in the product or not, whether they have particular knowledge of the product. Vets do the same thing (referring to the posts re Hills products.) The bottom line is money.

I recently switched my four senior cats to Performatrin Senior on the recommendation of someone who has fed Performatrin to her cat for years and whose cat has had no issues and now I am reading these horrifying posts re Performatrin. Do I wait to see if one of my boys falls ill, do I return the bag that I bought yesterday or is this dry fine to feed my boys? They get wet food each morning & water is provided at all times, obviously.

Thanx for your feedback.

lavacharlotte

August 6th, 2011, 11:08 AM

We have lost two cats to renal failure on Performatrin Weight Control, this year. Now, a third is showing signs of the same! I am concerned about this product!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

14+kitties

August 6th, 2011, 03:19 PM

It has long been known that dry food of any kind causes lots of health issues over the long run. That is why we say any canned food is better than dry foods.

www.catinfo.org

As for any over the counter flea remedies - they mostly don't work and some can be deadly to cats. I believe the can of Zodiac tells you to remove your pets and cover all food and fish tanks before spraying. At least the can I have here does. Fleas do indeed hop. They also come in on our clothes. And yes, I realize that statement was made in 2009.

mamaelf2014

January 12th, 2014, 05:55 PM

This Cat food should be pulled off the shelves. It made my 1year old cat throw up all of her meal. My other cat won't touch the stuff and my daughters cat has run away from home as a result of this food being left out for him.

After reading all of the other posts on this forum, I think its time someone pulled this off the shelves and checked what is making these cats sick from this food.

Hope no one has had to take their cat to the vet because of this product!

Longblades

January 13th, 2014, 07:49 AM

This thread was started 7 and a half years ago and the last post before Mamaelf was 2.5 years ago. Comments on ingredients may no longer be relevant.

Nutrition

April 14th, 2014, 08:07 AM

Good morning,
Please look at Susan Thixton's Truth About Pet Food. There is a list of 2014 pet food recalls. There are VERY FEW dog, as well as cat foods, which are healthy.
Please do not take the advice of someone who works in a pet store to suggest
dog or cat foods. These employees are given scripts of which foods to recommend. Knowledge is power. The more research one does to investigate various foods, the healthier your pet will be. This applies to human health, as well. We are fortunate, we have access to this information with the internet. If one does not have a computer, there is always information at the library. Look up the various ingredients; as well as the preservatives. Some of these preservatives are not even allowed in foods in Europe; but, are considered acceptable in the U.S. This has to do with greed and profit. I am not saying all pet foods are bad; as, there are a few good companies who actually care about what the ingredients are given to one's dogs and cats. Please spend some time looking at different websites, like Homemade Dog Food. There are good suggestions for recipes one can prepare. You just have to make sure you are including all of the nutritional supplements to make it a healthy diet. Good luck.